Empty Brooke and Invader Zim 3
by Kimberly Rashinda
Summary: This is Grande  Zim is taking Brooke to Irk for a Irken PLanet Jacker Alliance Treaty signing ceremony. He loses her after touchdown. When he finds her she's not allowed and has found something that could dethrone the Tallest... maybe for good...
1. Between the Irkens and Planet Jackers

By now I'm pretty sure no one needs a prologue…?

Empty Brooke and Invader Zim 3

Grande

Chapter 1

Between the Irkens and Planet Jackers

The blank sheet of paper was put on the table. It had nothing on it, no words, no doodles, nothing. Two sets of eyes, one brown, one red, stared down at it, looking it over like an enemy on the battlefield. A single hand, pale, with 5 fingers, reached out beside the paper, took a pen and passed it to a gloved hand with only 3 fingers.

There was a sigh of distress and then a solemn grunting as the one now holding the pen shifted uncomfortably in his seat. He looked down at the paper and then back at the girl sitting next to him. She rubbed her temple.

"Okay Zim… If 2x+3y-810… then what are the values of x and y?"

Zim didn't say anything. He looked down at the equation that Brooke had set out for him. The green-skinned boy tapped the table with his pen over and over again, sometimes biting or chewing on the end of it.

Suddenly his face lit up. Zim smashed the pen down onto the paper and began to write, tearing it slightly because he was pressing so hard. Once he'd finished he picked the paper up, looked at it, turned it to the left, then the right, looked at his again and then passed it to Brooke.

She lightly took it and looked it over. Zim waited in anticipation.

The girl took a red pen and wrote something on the paper. Then see passed it back to Zim.

He looked at it.

"F! Fantastic!"

"No, Zim," Brooke corrected. "F means failure. It means fucking retarded. It means anything bad and nothing good. You've failed yet ANOTHER algebra question."

"It's not my fault!" screamed Zim. "You and your stupid dimension hopping! This dimension doesn't have this thing called 'algebra'. This is totally useless here!" Zim tore the piece of paper in two, put them together and tore again. He did that 7 times and then he threw the paper bits into the air like confetti. "This knowledge is ridiculous and completely stupid! It has nothing to do with conquering Earth!"

"You want to conquer my dimension too, right?" asked Brooke. She leaned in, smirking.

"Uh… Yes."

"That's why you need algebra. My dimension has it. Teenagers have to use it a lot. You'd be the equivalent of a teenager. Learn it!" She picked up one of the pieces of paper that had landed on her shirt. Brooke read it. It said 2x. Then she turned back to Zim. "And by the way x3 and y4. In order to solve the equation you have to move the eight over and change it from negative eight to positive eight so that it is added to the ten, thus becoming 18. After that everything else is pretty simple. 2 multiplied by 3, which is what x is, becomes 6 while 3 multiplied by 4, which is what y is, is 12. Then you add 6 to 12 and you get 18. That's how I solve equations. Simple right?"

Zim's head was spinning.

"What's the matter Zim?" came a rather snarky voice from directly in front of them. Both of their heads turned to a boy in a blue shirt and black jacket, he had black hair that was done up like a scythe. He had glasses on as well as blue pants and was leaning on the table. He smiled at Zim like an enemy, which, to Zim, he technically was. "Is Brooke's dimension's technology and mathematics too much for your 'superior' mind to comprehend?" He leaned back and laughed long and hard.

Brooke slid a piece of paper across to Dib. He looked down at it confused.

"What's this?"

"A test."

"What's it for?"

"It's for you to solve." She slid a second over to Zim. "You have 10 minutes." Brooke pulled out a watch from under her long black sleeves and looked at it. "Begin… NOW!"

Zim and Dib exchanged glances and then started the tests.

They both groaned, not knowing anything on it at all.

Brooke quietly waited. She leaned back, supporting herself by pulling her legs up and pressing them against the underside of the table. Doing that she could have her head go all the way back and touch the ground before she pulled herself back up again. She leaned all the way back and touched the ground with her brown hair. The long bangs flopped onto the floor and she sighed.

"Hey guys?"

"Mmmm?" they both replied, not taking their eyes off of the papers, determined to beat the other.

"Do you think that it would be a good idea to cut my hair?"

"Mmmm…"

Brooke frowned.

They weren't listening anymore.

-----------------

Skool was over and as the bell rang a crowd of teenage children flooded from the doors and ran out into the street. Some cars stopped, others hit the kids, and some were already stopped and yelled as the kids jumped on top of and over the hood or roof. Regardless, there wasn't really much that they could do to stop the rampage. It was inevitable, just as the apocalypse was at one point in life. That or death.

Zim exited he skool, hands on his hips, and breathed in the air. He coughed and hacked a moment and then pouted, his seemingly pleased expression at beating Dib at the test by a mark of 0.5 was dismissed quickly. He frowned and crossed his arms and spoke to no one in particular. "I hate this stupid Earth air. There are far to many pollutants for my AMAZING body! It's pathetic!"

He was overheard.

"I completely agree with you…" Brooke walked up to Zim, slinging her backpack over one shoulder. "I'll admit that my home world was a little bit polluted as well. Heck, we even had global warning. But this… this is just too much."

Zim nodded his head and started down the stairs. Brooke followed. "These pathetic humans have no idea what good air is anymore," Zim continued. "Once I have conquered this planet I will request to the Tallest that we clean away this pollution problem once and for all! In the meantime," he said, tenting his fingers malevolently. "The humans can rot in their own filth!" Zim laughed evilly, grabbing a few stares before he went quiet again.

Brooke snapped to attention. She placed her hands behind her head and leaned far back, sticking her feet out in front of her like a Nazi. People had commented how it was similar to Zim's proud strut. Especially Dib.

"Hey Zim? I've been meaning to ask you." She turned to meet his eyes. 'What's Irk like?"

Zim looked surprised. "You don't know from my 'TV' show?" By this time the green-skinned invader had not only become accustomed to having a TV show in Brooke's world but was also increasingly proud of it. This only added to his tremendous ego.

Brooke shook her head. "No. There was… 1 episode with a glimpse of it. It was he very first episode I think… The Tallest were reflecting on how you'd mess- uh… been in Operation Impending Doom 1. After that there might have been one more incident when Tak came in but I'm pretty sure that was a different planet. Maybe one the Irken's had conquered."

Zim thought for a moment. "That's a hard question to answer… I'm not sure how I can really describe Irk… Well, I guess for one thing, it's the most AMAZING PLANET EVER!!!"

Brooke frowned.

He raised a brow. "Uh… well… There are more buildings than here on Earth… it's very purple, pink and red. There's no greenery or water on Irk, unlike here. Let's see… there are a lot of Irkens, did you know that?"

The girl rolled her eyes. "_No_… Really? I'd _never_ suspected that…"

Zim smiled. "You see? You will learn much from Zim! I am a very good teacher you know."

"I'm sure." Brooke's eyes went straight and she blinked as she remembered something. "Oh! Zim, I have a theory about the water here on Earth." Zim's interest was peeked. He motioned for her to continue. "Well, the water that tends to affect you the most is rain water, right? I think that because the clouds and upper atmosphere are so coated in toxins and pollutants, it might not be the water that hurts you, but rather the toxins in it."

"You fail to remember, Brooke-student, that the water Dib used on me when he found out was from taps."

"Could have been polluted. That's possible you know."

Zim rubbed his chin. "Hmm… I like how you think…"

The two stopped at a crossroads. Zim and Brooke looked to the left and then the right at the same time. One car passed and then they crossed, their feet linking together, giving the impression that they were pod people, or robots.

In the middle of the road Zim's PAK began to beep loudly. He stopped a moment and a blue car honked at him. Brooke pulled the boy out of the way and they stopped on the sidewalk, activating the PAK after concluding that no one was around to see them.

A screen rose up on a metal stand and bent down to Zim's face. Brooke leaned in close to see the message that ran by. Zim's smile brightened and he looked up at Brooke. "AH HA! You have tested me with your algebra today Brooke-student. Now is Zim's turn to test you! Read this sign out to me. Translate it from Irken as best as you can."

Brooke looked at him and then nodded. "Okay, I'll try." She glanced at the screen. "Uh… Okay. Attention, all Irken Invaders… um… There will be a meeting in one galactic day's time for the new signing of the Irken- Planet Jackers treaty. The Almighty Tallest will be making an appearance, taking a break from their hard days conquering other worlds for the benefit of the Irken Empire… hmm… It is encouraged for Irkens to bring newly discovered technology forth for it to be determined as important or not, by the Almighty Tallest themselves, during the banquet festival after the treaty has been signed…" Zim halted Brooke before she could continue.

"Did you hear that!? All Irken Invaders! The fact that I have received this message means that it is required that I attend!"

"The only reason that you got this message is because you hacked into the communications mainframe and granted yourself access to them," Brooke stated, rolling her eyes at Zim's obvious mistake.

"I only had to do that because of the mistake of my name not already being on the list! I was merely fixing the computer error. Hardly against the law." Zim pulled the screen back into his PAK and smiled brightly. "It is settled! I shall go to the treaty signing and make the Tallest proud of my accomplishments on Earth!"

Brooke was tempted to ask what accomplishments but she didn't. "Can I come?" she asked.

"Of course not!" Zim said frowning. "You'd only get in the way. And you're not meant to attend. It's only for invaders, the sign even said so!"

"But…"

Zim held up his hand. "No buts Brooke-student. You're not going and that's final." He stood straight and tall again. "I'll be leaving tonight or I'll never make it in time. You stay here and guard the base as well as take care of Gir. I WON'T be bringing him along. I can't have anything going wrong."

The girl frowned, disappointed, but nodded nonetheless. "Yes sir, wakadi mashda…"

Zim frowned. "And stop talking in other Earth languages!"

Then he walked off. Brooke stayed behind a little, looking at the ground. Soon she followed, head hung low and a new reason to start up voodoo again dwindling in her strange mind.

Kim: TADA!!! What do you think? COMMENT!!!

Brooke: Damn it Kim! First I cut my hair to differ from your character and now you have EB thinking about cutting HER hair! You're EVIL!!!

Kim: Tee hee. I know.


	2. New Technology Will Make Zim Famous

Empty Brooke and Invader Zim 3

Grande

Chapter 2

New Technology Will Make Zim Famous

As Zim packed for his trip to Irk, which he had explained would last roughly a week in Earth time, he smiled to himself and seemed to be actually humming. Gir sat on Brooke's lap, who in turn sat on a chair in the Docking bay. She quietly typed away on the computer, editing comics and writing her new story, 'Orange Peels'. Neither of them had spoken to one another after they returned home. But Zim broke the silence, as he always seemed to do lately.

"Alright," said Zim as he threw his stuff into the ship. "Looks like I'm all set to go." He turned to his 'student' and smirked brightly, unaware that she was disappointed at not being able to go to irk along with him. "You'll take care of Gir won't you?"

"Yes."

"And the computer?"

"Yes."

"And Minimoose?" At that moment Minimoose floated in from another room and squeaked loudly.

Brooke looked at the moose, sighed and then nodded. "Yes."

"Good! I'm off then!"

"Master is forgetting something," sang Gir, who had begun to dance on Brooke's lap. Zim stopped his climb into he ship and looked at the SIR unit, inquiring with his stare as to what he could have possibly left behind. Gir smiled brightly and stopped dancing. He pointed to Brooke and tapped her on the nose twice. "Master is forgetting Student-Master."

Zim frowned. "I'm not bringing Brooke with me Gir. She'll be too much trouble. Besides," he said, waving his wrist around like Brooke did after cracking her fingers. "What am I going to do if the Irken Empire Discovers and otherworldly creature, who is not a slave, on Irk, wandering around with me? It's just not right. The Tallest would be utterly repulsed by the pink flabbiness of the human body. How would they down their donuts?"

"He's right Gir," said Brooke looked down at the robot. "I'm not meant for Irk. I'm not a full Irken. It would be improper and reprehensible for me to appear on Zim's home world. It's probably just best if I stay here with you and everyone." She forced. A smile to stretch across her face as she stared down at her new mechanical friend. "Besides, I don't mind staying here with you. It might be fun."

The Irken placed his hands on his hips in a typical heroic pose. "Okay then! I'll be going now!" He turned back to Brooke and pointed a finger while his arm and wrist stayed close to his face. "You better make sure that the Dib-stink doesn't come anywhere near the base. If I find so much as a fingerprint from the stupid human I'll have your Manga books put in the city cesspool."

Brooke glared at him. "You do _that_ and you'll never see the light of day ever again…"

Zim flinched back. His threat hadn't worked like he'd wanted it to.

Then he stepped towards his ship and climbed up the side.

Gir looked back up at Brooke. "You going to kiss the big-head boy with Master gone?"

Zim halted in his climb. He looked back at Brooke. "… E-Eh?"

Brooke felt a bead of sweat roll down her face. She waved her hand down at Gir. "N-No way! I don't Dib in that way Gir! Where the heck did you get that idea?"

"You were looking at a picture of him on the computer," replied the robot.

Zim's eyes went wider. His jaw dropped. "…Eh?"

Brooke frowned and rolled her eyes. "Gir, those pictures that I favorited also had you and Zim in them as well… Baka mono…"

Gir stepped up to the computer and typed in the URL for something. Zim stood stalk still, waiting for the screen to show what Gir was looking for. Brooke glanced over at the screen. Once it loaded up there was a gray background with a large frame picture displayed brightly on top. Brooke's calm face instantly leapt to attention and her mouth dropped open, her pupils shrinking in her eyes. Zim's eyes got wider and his expression changed from surprise to embarrassment.

On the screen was an enlarged picture of Zim, his wigs and contact lenses on and with a small frown placed on his face. His eyes were half closed in a mad and yet bored manner. But it wasn't his expression that set everyone off. Instead it was what the picture of Zim was wearing. It was a very exaggerated French Maid dress, the hat and ribbons and everything. His arms were behind his back and he not only had frilly, puffed up sleeves but also a giant white bow that tied around his waist in the back. At the top of the page it read: Call 1-800-ZIMMAID and the picture was titled Get your very own Zim maid by Inamura.

"EH?"

Brooke didn't say anything. She just glanced over at Zim, a sort of smile on her face, eyes closed, scratching the back of her head.

Gir giggled. "Oops… Wrong one… Master looks pretty!"

"WHAT ON IRK IS THAT!?" Zim screamed.

"I swear I didn't do it!" Brooke yelled. "Gir screwed up!"

"Yes!" said Gir. "This is the right one!" He typed in another URL. Once more they waited for the picture to load. When it did the expressions on everyone's face was even worse than before. The picture was one with Zim and Dib in the most inappropriate pose that Zim could imagine after being introduced to YAOI a month prior by Brooke. It had Dib on top on Zim and holding the alien's hands down and then everything else Zim blotted out. It was a drawing called Hump Hump Hump.

A trickle of blood ran from Brooke's nose…

"EH!?"

"Damn it Gir! Stop typing in YAOI URLs!" Brooke leapt to the screen and typed in another URL. A new picture formed on the screen and Brooke pointed to it. "THIS is the picture that I favorited into my account!"

This picture wasn't bad at all. It was a picture of Dib, holding his jacket, with Zim growling in the back and Gir being funny on the left. However, Zim was still pretty angry. He frowned, unable to forget the frightening pictures that he had only seen a moment ago. They were still so horrifying in his head. Zim rubbed his temple with his forefingers. "I think I might be starting to contemplate a different option to you staying here alone…"

Brooke's hopes leap sky high. She jumped from her seat, knocking Gir to the ground, and stood there, waiting for Zim to speak again. She didn't dare say anything for fear of jeopardizing her possible trip to Irk. At her feet Gir sat up and looked up at Brooke. Her PAK shined in the light above him, or at least the silver portion did. O

One eye went wide, the other very thin and scrunched. Then he turned to his Master. "Take Student-Master with you, Master?"

Zim's head rose. "Hmm? Take her?" His frown returned. "I thought I explained that it was impossible to take her along with me." Zim failed to notice Brooke's smile fade and her eyes drop with her slouch. He continued instead. "The instructions said that only invaders were allowed to attend the ceremony. After that there would be a dinner with presentations for newly discovered technologies and a feast fit for KINGS!"

Brooke wanted to point out that the note hadn't said anything about kings or a feast but was too down in the dumps to really bother doing so. She just sank back into her chair.

As she sat down Brooke accidentally hit her armband's Irken button.

Since Brooke had received the PAK she'd been slowly turning from her human DNA and taking on a more Irken type of body structure. Two weeks ago, for example, she'd coughed up pieces of her own lungs. She'd grown a squeedly spooch, as they'd seen on a body scan, and some of her other organs had actually seemed to either melt or 'disappear' into her body. It was Friday of last week that Zim walked into the kitchen and screamed because, although Brooke wasn't in Irken disguise, she had two curled antennas sticking out from under her thick brown hair.

Zim had taken her PAK off to examine it and check for viruses. He'd found none. When he took the PAK back to Brooke she was coughing up blood, which had taken on a light pink color, like his own. She grabbed for the PAK and was repaired instantly. It had turned out that she'd changed in more ways than was anticipated. But it wasn't surprising. No human had ever come into contact with a PAK before, let alone joined with one, so the outcomes would have been unknown. Zim documented their findings after creating a separate hologram for Brooke to cover up her antennas.

The girl jumped as her skin paled even more than usual. Her antennas popped out from under her hair and her bright brown eyes turned completely black with accented spots of gray. She felt her antennas poke out and swore profoundly. "DAMN IT!! I'd hoped they'd gone away…" She turned towards Zim. "I haven't check since Saturday…"

Zim's own antennas rose upwards. His mind opened.

"That's it!!!"

Brooke jumped at the outburst. "Huh? What's what?"

Zim pointed to Brooke. "It's you! You're my newly discovered technology!" Brooke still looked confused so Zim further explained his theory. "See, I don't have any worthwhile technological discoveries from Earth. Nick has failed me once again. So has the moose… Anyways. The Tallest haven't ever seen a human Irken hybrid! This is perfect! I can take you to the Tallest and be praised for my AMAZING brains!"

Brooke's smiled returned, bigger and brighter than ever. "You mean I'm going!?"

"Of course you're going," Zim turned to the ship and then tilted his head in her general direction. "What on Irk gave you the idea that you weren't?" Then he climbed into the ship while Brooke frowned and gave in the finger, which didn't really matter since the little Irken had no idea what the middle finger represented. "Now hurry up and get in the ship! We have to get going now!"

Rolling her eyes, Brooke hurried over, grabbing Gir and Minimoose as she ran. She threw them in before climbing in herself. Gir landed on Zim's head and then took a nap. Even with Zim continuously screaming for him to get off of his head Gir didn't move. So Brooke had to do it so that Zim would finally start up the ship. Not that she hadn't already memorized the controls; she was just underage and unable to drive until she was 16. Even then Zim would have to be in the ship.

Brooke placed Gir on her lap and Minimoose rested on her left shoulder.

Zim started up the ship.

The computer opened the doors, glad to be alone.

They flew off into space, coordinates set of Irk.

----------------------

Kim: This was fun! Now I have to get started on the next chapter! I feel good about this story!

Brooke: … spaz…

Kim: 'Wakadi mashda' means 'I understand' in Japanese (I might have spelt the english term wrong)


	3. The short problem on the Irken surface

Empty Brooke and Invader Zim 3

Grande

Chapter 3

The Short Problem on the Irken Surface

Flying took a while. Brooke and Zim were both easily bored. It had been about 6 hours since they'd set out and 5 hours since Zim had put the ship on autopilot with the course set for Irk. After that the trip had just sort of fell apart.

Gir continued a little dance on the dashboard, singing the doom song as he so enjoyed doing whenever the three of them set out in the ship. However, now that Minimoose had joined them in the ship Gir had decided that it was best if he made a new dance to go along with his 'wonderful' song. He kept bothering Zim and Brooke into looking at his new additions to the dance, but they'd never paid any attention to the old version so neither of them could really see much of a difference.

Zim just sat in his seat; head back and eyes open, staring at the ceiling of his Voot cruiser. He was so excited to be going back to Irk. To see the Tallest in all their mighty tall glory and to present his AMAZING discovery to them would be simply fantastic! He couldn't wait to have all the Irkens in the crowd praise him for the new Irken-human hybrid. They would be so amazed and he'd be so happy. Even happier than he was while going to the actual convention. When he thought about the Tallest's proud reaction he grinned wide and closed his eyes with his tongue out.

Brooke sat next to Zim. It had been a few weeks since she'd updated her comic, Demonics, and she'd decided that it was a good time to start work on the next page. This would be the page where the demonic Fortus took on a human form and displayed himself to the girls, not realizing that he'd torn his shorts off in the process. She pulled out the spare paper and folding board from her PAK, as well as a pencil, pen, ruler, eraser, markers and pencil crayons, and then began to draw out the panels and sketch the stick figures she'd create the characters from later on.

Minimoose hadn't moved and inch off of Brooke's shoulder. He just happily sat there, eyes slightly askew and the widest grin set on his purple face it was sickeningly adorable. He squeaked for a while and had, at one point in the trip, taken to singing along with Gir. Or… squeaking, rather. But he hadn't left Brooke from the whole time. Sometimes he would watch her draw; sometimes he'd look at Zim. Most of the time though, he'd just stare into space, literally speaking.

Brooke sighed deeply. "Hey Zim?"

"Mmmm?"

"How much longer?"

Zim turned to the computer terminal beside him.

"Computer?"

"Mmmm?" The computer was bored too.

"How much longer?"

"… We're here."

Both Zim and Brooke leapt forwards. Zim accidentally knocked Gir from his seat on the dashboard and Minimoose went flying off of Brooke's shoulder. The girl and the Irken's head collided, their foreheads striking one another with incredible force. They were both sent back, painful headaches developing in their skulls. They systematically rubbed their heads and then sat up again, this time careful not to hit one another. The two of them stared out of the window and Zim smiled with pride as Brooke took in the shape and beauty of Irk, mouth wide open in awe.

The planet was enormous. It was simply huge. The whole surface looked like it was a dark pink, or a light purple, color. There were ships there flew all around. One ship in particular caught Brooke's eye. She turned to the right of the ship, lucky that she'd seen it from her good eye, where she still had peripheral vision. Then he pointed it out to Zim. "Isn't that the…"

"The Tallest's' ship!!!" Zim's eyes widened in joy. He leapt nearly on top of Brooke's head and caused her to be knocked down. They toppled onto one another, Brooke screamed for Zim to get off and Zim barking orders at her to stop doing things against the wishes of her teacher. Namely, him.

--------------

They flew below the atmosphere. It was even more spectacular than Brooke had first though. It was, indeed as Zim had stated, barren of any life other than the Irkens and what slaves they had collected from neighboring planets. Purple, gray, pink and red buildings were set in rows all along the surface and there were bays that floated in the air where ships could dock themselves neatly and out of the way of the ongoing traffic on the planet surface.

It wasn't cars of course but something much more advanced. They looked similar to Zim's Voot Runner and so it became apparent that the runner had been taken from their original designs. They zoomed along the surface, careful not to hit any of the Irkens that had taken to walking on the dark purple pathways that were set this was and that. The fact that no one seemed to be hitting anyone else was very intriguing. They seemed to be able to move about, the premature Voot Runners, and the Irkens seemed to be able to walk a long as they pleased without colliding into anyone. There were no accidents and they all were in perfect harmony, the Irkens never having to stop because they would always make it to the road by the time the premature Voot Runners had made a gap in the flow for them to pass through.

"Wow…" was all that Brooke could really muster. "It's… it's…"

"Superior," stated Zim, a proud smirk stretching across his green face.

Flying past a rather large, pink courier ship, Zim twirled the Voot Cruiser around the gathering of spacecrafts, eager to find a spot as quickly as possible.

They passed a ship that had stopped. There was a little irken on the hood, trying to fix it. He furiously rapped at some machinery inside and then kicked the ship hard, injuring his foot in the process. At that very moment, he would have drifted right out into space if not for the fact that he was securely tied to the ship with a sort of bungee cord type thing.

Zim glanced over and halted the Voot Runner a moment. Brooke leaned over past him to look out at the Irken Zim had taken an interest in. The green boy beside her flicked a switch and looked out at the Irken tapping the glass.

He looked up at Zim, confusion set on his features. He started to speak but couldn't be heard. Zim flicked another switch and his voice erupted through the cockpit.

"… thought that the Tallest got rid of you for good Zim. I'm sort of glad they didn't. It'd be mighty boring around here if they had." The Irken's expression changed and Brooke leaned over. Zim looked at the other alien's face and then peered over at Brooke. She had leaned over so much that her head was far below his and it sort of made him feel superior. He turned back as the other Irken spoke again. "Hey Zim? What's that odd little creature you have in the back there? Is it Irken?"

Zim shook his head. "No, no. Course not. It's… well… 'she's' my new discovery! You can see it at the Invader Feast! Like everyone else will and then the Tallest will acknowledge me for my AMAZING invader skills!" Zim's eyes seemed to sparkle.

"You're going?" asked the other Irken. "I didn't think that you'd come all this way. Oh well. I'd like to see your discovery up close then. May I?"

"Yeah sure whatever. Later." Zim didn't seem to care about the conversation anymore. He stuck his hand up in the air and yelled "ONWARDS TO IRK!" before accelerating the Voot Runner and driving off just as the other Irken called after him, asking for help on his engine.

-------------------

They docked.

Zim stood up in the tight cockpit and glanced down at Brooke, who hadn't moved from her seat. Whenever she was excited she sat perfectly still, like she thought that moving would ruin the surprise that was yet to come. Brooke looked up at him as he cleared himself through the docking system.

The ship locked in place and the front hatch opened. There was a long, gray flue awaiting them.

Brooke stood up and looked into it, rather worried. She looked over at Zim.

"Invaders first," he said, pushing past her and diving into the tube. She could hear him screaming, rather happily, the entire way through. Then there was a flash of light and a loud zapping noise. Zim's voice disappeared.

Minimoose and Gir dove next. The little robot gripped Brooke's arm, pulling her through the flue and down into the waiting belly of the planet. There they would be checked, locked into the systems and ready to be transported to the Invader Meeting where the Tallest were finalizing the treaty.

But something went wrong.

There was a bright red light that flashed through the flue before the loud zapping and the bright light came. 'FOREIGN DNA DETECTED. FOREIGN DNA DETECTED.' It called out through the tubes. Gir and Minimoose were, almost immediately ripped away from Brooke and the girl was sent through another tube that stretched in a different direction.

The computer fizzled and it shot Brooke this way and that, giving her whiplash the whole way. She ended up being upside down and then finally ended up on her belly as she fell downwards into a large vat of molten magma.

Brooke screamed as the heat seared at her flesh. It burned past her wrists and, thankfully, her wrist link.

The wires short-circuited.

She could feel the antennas pocking through her hair. They stood out, black and curling, against the swirling molten rock that was set on the walls around her. Eyes blackening with her Irken DNA she crumpled up and waited for the impact of the magma to rip her to shreds and tear at every part of her body until she felt the extreme pain for the fire before eventually sinking into the familiar feeling of calmness. Of death.

But that feeling did not come. Instead of the hot magma, Brooke hit cold metal.

She opened her eyes in a flash as she slid down yet another tube.

The computer had caught her Irken DNA just before she hit the magma and had saved her. However, it also detected the flaws in her DNA and so, she was treated as though she was a defect.

Brooke was through upwards with a large draft of air before she was tossed out of the flue and was thrown across the landscape.

She screamed as she flew across the sky. Irkens from below looked up at her.

--------------------------------------

Zim exited the flue rather clumsily. He'd never been able to get used to them nor had he used one in quite a while. So he stumbled while getting out and then straightened himself up, waiting for the others to make their way through. When the red lights flashed Zim's memory hit him hard and he recalled the DNA detected system that had been installed about 32 years ago. He grimaced as he slapped his forehead, hoping that the detection system would find that Brooke also had Irken DNA from her PAK.

His prayers were answered when the beeping suddenly stopped and Gir and Minimoose came flying through the chute, crashing into their master and sending the three of them onto the hard metallic landscape.

Zim roared in anger. "Gir! Be more careful! You're on Irken terrain, act like a proper SIR unit!"

Gir glowed from cyan to crimson. "Yes, my lord!"

Minimoose squeaked.

Zim looked up the chute. "Where's Brooke?"

Gir shrugged. "I think the monkey ate her like a monkey would!"

"There are no monkeys on Irk, Gir. Don't be silly." He sighed. "The detected should have found her DNA. All we have to do it hope that she landed nearby after it did so."

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

Zim looked up as a black figure streamed across the sky.

He growled deep in his throat. "Let's go find her before she gets lost."

Then he, Gir and Minimoose were off, following the scream until it stopped and they lost her altogether.

-------

Kim: HEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!! I hate myself for taking so long to update! Oh well. I hope people can forgive me for taking so long! I also hope that you like this page!

Brooke: This is going to hurt… -flinches-


	4. Hyde

Empty Brooke an Invader Zim 3

Grande

Chapter 4

Hyde

Experiencing surgery while awake and aware of what was happening. Being able to feel all of the pain that one would feel if they were meant to be awake, like in old western times. The sensation that people couldn't do anything to help you once it had begun and that there was minimal that you could do, on your own, to help yourself. Knowing that there was intense discomfort coming towards you as you experienced it helplessly. All horrible things to have going on when you're young, roughly a teenager, however, Brooke had known each one, and so this was just another one of those times.

Flying over the city, she continued to scream, begging someone to do something. Though the screams for help were only in her head and the actually screams of 'ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!' were for real, she actually expected someone to dart up to her in a ship, preferably someone she knew, like Zim, and catch her before she met her untimely demise.

Boy, was she ever wrong.

Her trip quickly ended, as abruptly as it had begun. The city grew larger and, within moments, Brooke was knocked to one side by a newly fashioned Irken cruiser, sent veering off course (where she would have originally landed in a defect hospital) and crashed into a rather tall building.

This building was not alone. It had a brother, directly next to it. Brooke, in turn, bounced from the first building to its brother and then back to the first, in a fit of pain as her tiny body was thrown this way and that. Slowly losing her force, the poor Irken-Human hybrid missed the first building's brother by the fourth bounce and, instead, slid down the side, tumbled backwards and landed in a dumpster directly beneath.

Looking up from within the dumpster, Brooke's eyes blinked constantly. Her bad eye seemed to have been badly nicked during her fall. There was a cut underneath it and she, once more, had no peripheral vision from said eye.

As she touched her eye, she flinched with pain and then pulled her hand away, looking at her Irken-Human blood. It was a mixture of black and red. Brooke let her arm fall and then looked back to the top of the dumpster.

"Damn… fucking… cruisers…"

Then she fell asleep.

---------------------------------------------

Zim was starting to get disgruntled now, not to mention worried. It had been nearly three hours since he'd seen the Irken flying above his head and Gir could find no sign of Brooke anywhere. She had no noticeable brain waves to pick up on anymore and he was starting to think that the Irken he'd seen had been someone else and that Brooke had, in truth, fallen to her untimely demise beneath the planet's core, melted down to nothing in Irk's molten magma.

"Gir!" The robot looked up at Zim, flashing his red eyes to cyan again. "Have you found and indication that Brooke sailed near here?"

Lightly, Gir shook his head. Then he turned back to his work, only to spot a piece of trash. Gir rushed over and started to play with it, sitting down and making a pile of trash with other nearby pieces.

Zim cursed to himself in his native tongue. "Where on Irk could that Hirken have gone!?" Zim had started to refer to Brooke as a Hirken, as she was not only Irken or human, but a mixture of the two. Thus, a Hirken. "There's no trace of her anywhere! We've already checked the defect hospital and she wasn't there, so there's not really anywhere else she could be!"

Gir looked back at his master. "She could be… in magma! Dancing with the magma monkeys!"

"GIR! THERE ARE NO MONKIES ON IRK!!!" Zim calmed himself, sighing lightly. "And if Brooke is in the magma, then she's not Brooke anymore. She's more… magma." The Irken boy savagely scratched his temple, aggravated beyond belief. "UGH! Hirkens are way too much trouble!! Come one Gir."

Zim picked the little robot up, set him standing right, and then took a piece of junk from atop his head.

They started to walk. "Once I find that Hirken, if she _is_ alive… I'm going to kill her."

"YAY! I like killing!"

-----------------------------------------

"Ung…" Her eyes opened and she looked up. There was only blackness. Finding it hard to breathe, Brooke pushed the object away from her face and looked up. Now she could see. While she'd been sleeping, it appeared that someone had visited the dumpster and piled garbage on top of her, not really caring that someone was in there.

She sat up, still stiff from her sleep.

Looking around, she realized that she was not tall enough to see over the top of the dumpster and, frowning at how short she was, Brooke lifted her body up and leaned over the rim, nearly gagging at the stench. Then she was able to look around.

Definitely an ally of some sort, but she wondered if she really wanted to be there. It sort of looked like a back ally from Earth, where all of the most dangerous individuals enjoyed being during the night. It was very filthy, dirt and garbage and grime everywhere, and there was near no light, save for a few small lanterns on the wall of the building opposite. Most of said lamps had been smashed. There was one directly across from her and it still worked.

Climbing out, Brooke slipped and fell on her bum. She grimaced, stood and took a quick glance down either end of the ally. One end didn't seem to have any light at all, whereas the other had shadows moving in the light.

Brooke tapped her wristband a few times. Her form fizzled, changing from Irken to Human to half to Humana and then back to Irken once more. She sighed to herself, leaning against the wall. "With my form changing around like this… there's no way I can just walk into Irken society without being noticed…" Brooke peered back down the black end of the walk. She thought to herself a moment. "Looks like… I don't have much of a choice…"

She started to walk towards the black end of the ally.

Illuminating the way as she went, with her wristband, Brooke felt sort of relieved. It was a relief to have a little piece to think for once. Most of the time, back on Earth, Zim was always screaming about his plans or fighting with Dib or accidentally knocking into something and causing a mess. There was hardly a time when she had some piece, so this was good at least.

As she made her way down, a few lanterns turned out to be on, but they were much farther from where she'd begun. Also, she found many twists and turns from her present course. A couple of times, when she could confirm that there were no Irkens down that way, by listening for voices and looking for shadows, she would take a turn and walk that way instead, not really knowing where it was she was going. Other times, when she knew that there were Irkens there, she peeked around for only a second and then hurriedly ran across the opening to the ally, so as not to be seen. It took an awfully long time this way and while she was walking she passed by a few doors with lights above the way. Some had writing, others did not.

One said 'Eas'. Brooke didn't know what an 'Eas' was. So, curious, she walked down the four stairs to the door and checked to see if it was open. It was, and so she pushed lightly inwards, opening it only a crack.

There was minimal lighting inside, much like outside, and there were few Irkens inside. They were mostly seated at a long table that Brooke identified to be a sort of Irken bar. There were heavy fumes gushing out and smoke all around the floor and ceiling. It was coming from strange machines behind the bar.

Someone tapped on Brooke's shoulder.

She screamed and turned around, nearly jumping out of her skin.

It was an Irken, about 6 inches taller than she was. His eyes were dark purple and his breath was fowl, breathing down onto her face. Rather bulky and muscle-armed, this Irken looked frightening, being so angry and so much taller than her. Brooke looked up at him, her antennas falling flat on her head and her body shrinking (not literally of course).

"If you're not going to go in then get outta my way!"

Completely terrified, Brooke scrambled for the side railing on her right, leapt up and over. Then she made a run for it.

She hurried down the ally, forgetting to light to way and so, running blindly through the darkness. This turned out to be a big mistake, as she tripped and fell not long after, landing flat on her stomach, only barely reaching her arms up in time to stop her face from hitting the ground. When the object she'd tripped over groaned she nearly screamed again, but instead whirled around and looked at her feet.

It was an Irken, like she'd expected, but this one seemed sick. He was lying on the ground, curled into a ball, clutching where his Squeedly Spooch was supposed to be. Thought scared, she was also kind of concerned, since she was also Irken. Brooke got to her knees and poked the alien with her gloved finger. She asked if he was all right or if it needed help. Then he opened his eyes, looked at Brooke and thrust something at her.

Brooke looked at it. He'd put it right in front of her face so that she could see.

A bottle. That's what it was.

"Please… take it. I don't want anymore… Ugh…" He seemed to nearly be sick. "T-Too much… I'll never drink again." Brooke was surprised to hear that Irkens had a sort of alcohol as well. When she made it back t Zim she would be sure to rub it in his smug face, as he'd claimed that Irkens had no use for filthy things like that. "Please!" continued the Irken. "Just take it… I don't'… I don't want to see it anymore…"

"B-B-B-But… But I don't w-want it." Brooke lightly shook her hand in front of her face.

"Just take it!" The Irken shoved it further forward, urging her to take the bottle. "Take the Irk forsaken thing away and then leave me alone!"

Gulping, Brooke took hold of he bottle and looked at it.

Then the Irken sighed, unclasping his hands and rising from his spot. He nearly puked up what he'd eaten, but held it down, which probably wasn't any better. Slowly and cautiously, he found the wall and walked along it, hand after hand going in front of him to guide the way. Brooke watched as he made his way away from her and the strange bottle.

She looked down at it herself. "What 's the big deal? Can't be that bad." Now she was curious as to what the fuss had been about. She reached for the tab and popped it off. There wasn't much left in the bottle, just a pool of it at the bottom. She took a whiff from inside the bottle, just to be sure that the Irken hadn't puked on or in the drink. It sort of smelled… fruity!

Brooke smacked her lips. Running _had_ made her thirsty…

She tilted her head back and took a sip.

Instantly, even before the drink could make its way to the back of her throat, Brooke regretted what she had done. She thrust her head forwards, throwing the bottle from her hand and spat out what she'd drank from it. The bottle smashed against the wall, straying the leftover drink everywhere, including on Brooke's face. Then she stated to cough and sputter what she'd had.

Simply disgusting!

"Ugh!" She coughed twice. "That's horrible! Just… Disgusting!"

"Makes sense… It's a little early to be getting drunk, don't you think?"

Brooke head shot up. She could feel the presence of someone next to her. She quietly looked up at the person beside her body and rose to her feet as quick as she could when she saw how very tall they were. Brooke tripped as she stood and hit the wall.

"Careful. That stuff's not really good for someone, especially if they drink _that_ much." Indeed, this Irken was exceptionally tall. Her had long antennas, nearly the size of Brooke's body, a uniform unlike anything she'd ever seen, with tears, accessories and two belts, and clunking metal boots, which reminded her of her own boots when she was human-looking. Then he had bright green eyes in rectangular shapes that she recognized from the Tallest in the TV show. If Brooke hadn't been so terrified a moment ago then she would have laughed at how small his PAK was in comparison to his body, especially since it looked like a bubble that had just stuck to his back. And finally, there seemed to be a subtle 'whirring' sound coming from his person, but she couldn't see where from.

Brooke looked up at him a moment, thinking about what he'd said. "W-wait… kuh… What?"

He pointed to the smashed bottle. "There couldn't have been a lot in there. Not much spilled out."

"B-b-b-b-but I didn't have any… It… it was that other guy."

"Other guy?"

"Y-yeah, he went down that way." Brooke pointed in the direction.

The Irken looked but didn't seem convinced. "I see… Well…" He turned back to her. "Why don't you tell me where you reside and I'll make sure you get back there without getting hit by a cruiser on your way, kay?"

"I… uh…" Brooke stopped. She didn't have anywhere that she really lived on Irk. "I… I, uh… I don't live here…"

"Well, I know that. Where _do_ you live?"

"… Uh… Earth?"

"Where's that?"

"Bout… 20 million light years that way," Brooke pointed above her head, just slightly to the left; where she thought Earth was.

The Irken looked there. Then he looked back. "Did you really only drink one bottle?"

"I didn't drink anything!" Without realizing it, Brooke stamped her foot onto the ground in anger, much like a troubled child when things didn't really go their way at all. It was only after she could see fizzing in from of her eyes did she realize what she'd done. In reality, Brooke had shaken up her form again and not she was switching between the three.

She looked down at herself, bewildered and praying that this Irken wouldn't call for a guard or something. Now, instead of her green skin, she was pale peach, with blue jeans, her stripped gray and blue sweater, her black shirt with the winged-skull and her hulking metal tipped boots. She saw her hair fall from her head on either side and reached up to see if she had completely transformed. Not so. Her antennas were still there and, she assumed, her Irken eyes as well. Turning human in front of him wouldn't have been so bad. She could have argued that she was an invader and that her disguise was on the fritz, so she'd come to get it properly fixed. But when she was half and half… Well, Zim had told her that no disguise screwed up _that_ much and that it was imperative that, should she meet an Irken besides him, she stay away from that form entirely.

Brooke looked back up at the Irken.

His eyes rolled back into his head and he fell backwards against the ally wall. He sort of looked like he was just sitting there.

He panicked.

"Oh no!" It would have just been better had he run. Brooke was a little too nice when it came to times like these, as she'd found out before she met Zim. She hurried over to the Irken, got to her knees and turned his face towards her. "Mr. Irken? Mr. Irken? Can you hear me? Hello?" Brooke pulled up and eyelid and looked into his eyes. "He…low?" Then she shook his shoulders. "Oh, please wake up!"

Lightly, the Irken groaned. His eyes started to open and he looked at Brooke, who was directly in front of his face. Her concern turned to relief when he woke up.

"Oh, thank gawth!"

"Mmmm…" The Irken grunted and rubbed his head, closing his eyes again. He opened one and looked at Brooke. "What's your name?"

She was a little shocked by the question. Typically, on Earth, if she'd met someone in a place like this, knocked them down and out like that, they'd really be itching to hurt her via punch, kick or whatever. But this guy just rubbed away the bump on his noggin and looked at her like she was a normal Irken, which, he could obviously tell, she was not. She lost her voice for a second.

"Uh… B…Brooke. My name's Brooke."

"…Odd name…" He smiled. "I'm Hyde."

------------------------------------------

Kim: KAWAII!! I've drawn pictures of Hyde! He's so cute in my opinion! YAY!

Brooke: I was right! It did hurt… And how come you always bring up the worst memories? (_the surgery thing from the first paragraph_)

Kim: It's a gift. Now go do your fanfictions! And sorry for the long wait people. I swore to Brooke that I wouldn't update unless she did. But… now that I think about it… that might be the reason she didn't update for so long. :( I'M SO SORRY!!!!!

Brooke: heh, heh… she's kinda right too…


	5. Trouble Comes in Many Sizes

Empty Brooke and Invader Zim 3

Grande

Chapter 5

Trouble Comes in Many Sizes

Zim rubbed his temple hard. Five hours and still no still of the half-breed girl. He was beginning to think that his first theory could have been correct and that she was, indeed, dead. He stopped rubbing and then leaned his head back on the back of the bench he and Gir were seated on. Well… _he_ was seated on the bench. Gir was playing with a can next to it.

"What am I going to do Gir?" Though Zim asked the robot and talked to him, he didn't expect any sort of answer any time soon. "The meeting's soon and I can't find E.B. anywhere! I've checked everywhere she could have landed with that trajectory! The defect hospital, the flue production plant, the slave sorting interval, the area, the-"

"Zim? Zim!"

Zim turned to his left where the source of the voice was. An Irken walked up to him, smiling bright, large crimson eyes glowing with enthusiasm. There was grime and grease on the Irken's invader uniform and a pair of goggles on his head. Both antennae stuck up with glee. It was the Irken that Zim and Brooke had passed on their way to the Irken planet surface. He was a little dirtier than before, when Zim had seen him, and now he had the goggles off of his face.

"Greetings, Grin," Zim said to the Irken.

"So it is you! I though I saw you." Grin sat down next to Zim. "Why so glum? I thought that you were so excited about the Tallest recognizing your skills after you introduce your discovery to them? Hey…" He looked around. "Where… is your discovery?"

Zim threw his hands up in the air. "I lost it!" He slumped down, sulking. "I came to Irk to prove my AMAZING invader skills and I end up losing the greatest discovery in the history of Irk!"

"Oh… Come now Zim. It couldn't have been that great… I mean, you found it on a backwater planet, right? That one where the beings are stupid even when they're tall? And the horrible meat?"

"That's what made this discovery so AMAZING!!! Who would have thought that such a useful tool for an invasion could be sitting right in front of our faces? Huh? No one!" Zim sat back and tampered with his tracking device, not even bothering to turn it back on. "The machine detected foreign DNA after we left the platform and either plunged my greatest discovery into the depths of Irk… or catapulted it halfway across the vector. At any rate, if my discovery _wasn't_ destroyed then I can't pick up a signal from anywhere!" Then Zim flicked at the open switch for the device. He opened and closed it a few times while the other Irken tried to think of what to say. But, beyond that point, there really was nothing else to be said. Losing something like that would have been pretty discouraging.

Sighing, Zim leaned back on the bench and clicked the tracking light on. He casually rubbed at the screen. Then, as he pulled his finger away, he saw a flashing purple light, blinking every second and moving in small circles, roughly one forth of a vector away. His eyes lit up instantly and the invader leapt to his feet with excitement.

"Yes! YES! THAT'S IT!!!"

Grin leaned in to see what was so fascinating. "What's it?"

"That's the signal!!!" Zim grabbed Gir by his antenna and pulled the robot up until he was standing. Then he opened up Gir's head and slipped the tracking device in. Gir's eyes lit up red and he turned to his master, giving a salute. "Gir, find Brooke. NOW!"

"Yes, my master!" And with that, Gir was gone, speeding down the street as fast as he could.

"GIR!!!!"

The robot stopped. His eyes turned cyan once more and he casually strolled back to Zim. Stopping in front, the little mechanical helper took his master by the hand and started to drag him along towards the bleeping purple dot. Grin, curious as an invader, followed them, tugging his own SIR unit along in the process.

---------------------------------

Brooke paced up and down the small room. It was rather filthy and she was tempted to clean it. Though she didn't like to clean things in general, if something was even too messy for her to live in then she had trouble resisting the urge to tidy things up and put everything away in a neat order so that she new where it all was. But here, she could not do that. This room wasn't hers to clean so she wasn't sure if she really had the right to do so or not.

Hyde was seated on, what looked like, a mattress in the corner of the room, just beside the window, which looked out to a vast array of cruisers speeding through the air and towering buildings that stacked up along the Irken planet surface. It was a beautiful view, but she didn't dare to walk over and see it again. Hyde was sleeping and she really didn't want to wake him.

That's why she paced.

She was thinking.

After she'd introduced herself to Hyde, and he'd said his own name back to her, the poor Irken had passed out for a second time. Brooke didn't panic that time and, instead, ruffled through a few of his things, trying to see if she could find something that might help him out. She didn't find much on his person, save for five small cubes that she hadn't learned about from Zim and a small slip of paper with twelve numbers on it. They were separated by a large space.

Assuming that it was an address of some sort, she hurried back to the bar-like place she'd seen before and opened the door again; making sure that her Irken disguise was fully functioning for the time being.

The same Irken that she'd met outside of the 'Eas' was also inside, sitting at a table next to the doorway. Once she peeked her tiny head inside the Irken had turned to the door and spotted her, recognizing her as the Irken female from before.

"Oi, you back?"

Brooke looked over and nodded. She quietly slipped inside and walked over to the muscle-armed Irken. He didn't seem as scary anymore. In fact, he sort of looked relaxed and happy maybe. She figured he must have drunk something. Or maybe it was the smoke filling the air. In any case, she now had the courage to walk up to him and slid the paper into his hand. "Um, d-do you know what this means?"

"Yeah. It's an address." He passed the paper back to Brooke. "If you go down the ally the same way you came then you should come to a four-way intersection. Take the one on the right and the first door on the left if the one you want. The note says to go into the seventh tube. So, do that."

"Th-Thanks…"

"No worries."

Then she left and hurried back over to where she'd left the taller Irken. He was undisturbed from his spot where he'd fallen. She looked ahead, down the ally, and, sure enough, there was a small light and what looked to be two turns off on either side and a continuing way forward. So, Brooke leaned down and pulled Hyde's arms over her shoulders. Then she started to carry him as best as she could, dragging his feet, towards the intersection.

Just as the Irken had said, she turned right and took the first door on the left. There were ten tubes in the room beyond and she pulled Hyde into the seventh one. Then she looked back at the paper and at the second set of numbers.

She translated them from Irken into English so that she could remember them easier. Brooke took the pencil she always hid behind her ear with a small strip of metal that she made in Zim's lab, and wrote down the numbers in English on the paper. Afterwards, she read them aloud. "…5…7…6…2…0…6…" Brooke looked at the panel in front of her. She pressed 5, 7, 6, 2, 0, and 6 again.

They went straight up the flue and ended up in the very messy room.

Now she impatiently waited for Hyde to wake up.

On a regular day, she would have simply placed him on the mattress, covered him in something warm and then left but she couldn't do that today. One reason was because she knew nothing about Irk, let alone where she could go to find Zim. It was like trying to figure out how to ride a TTC bus or the subway, without going to far or stopping short of her destination, in her own world. A second reason she couldn't go; there wasn't really anything to cover Hyde with. All he had was a table, a few mechanical trinkets set there, the mattress, and a work light that was attached to the wall above the desk. She'd turned that light on after putting Hyde on the mattress. So, because there was nothing warm, and Hyde's room didn't seem to be warm in the least, she took off the long invaders uniform she had on (just the top) and used that to cover just about two quarters of his body. It wasn't nearly long enough to cover all of him. Underneath her invader uniform she still had a short shirt and a type of threaded material that covered the rest of her stomach, which was not covered by the black shirt.

Brooke sat down on the floor, directly in the center of the room. She crossed her legs and folded her arms in front of her chest. Her left knee kept jumping up and down with her frustration. She stared in annoyance at a small notch in the cold metal floor, frowning.

"When's he going to wake up…?" she said to herself.

Time passed and she started to feel her eyelids drooping. Staring at the floor like that was excruciatingly boring and the effects were starting to sink in. Brooke felt her eyelids getting heavier. Eventually they closed and she saw nothing but black, though she wasn't quite asleep yet. Finally, the last picture she saw before slipping off was a figure she recognized to be Zim.

------------------------------

"…Wake up."

Brooke's eyes flittered. She slowly opened the right one and, seeing a dark, blurry figure, then slowly opened the left one. The vision focused and she saw Zim in front of her face, frowning deeply and staring into her black eyes with his red ones. She closed her eyes again, thinking that it was a mirage like before.

"Do not ignore Zim!"

She was smacked upside the head by Zim's gloved claw and brought back more abruptly than she would have liked. She focused again and realized that it wasn't a mirage but, in fact, Zim. He was sitting directly in front of her, his legs crossed in the same manner as her, but instead of folding his arms, Zim had his elbows sticking up in the air, and his hands pressed down on his knees.

"…Zim…?"

"Yes?"

Brooke turned on him and smacked him back, upside the head, like he'd done to her. When Zim yelped out and crouched his head down, holding the back, she stood up and pointed to him, angered by his sudden attack on her dream cycle. "What the hell Zim!? You didn't have to smack me like that! What's the matter with you!? You annoying little pest! Have you no common courtesy? I may not be full but I have Irken DNA too! Show some respect to others of your race!"

Zim leapt to his feet, also angered and still rubbing the back of his head. "Do not talk to Zim that way! I who created you!"

"You didn't create me! I took a PAK and put it on myself!"

"A stolen PAK! You're lucky Zim doesn't punish you for stealing that PAK!"

"Then you wouldn't have anything for the Invader's meeting today!"

"Zim has many things he could have brought!"

"Not what you said before!" It was then that Brooke remembered that Hyde would have still bee asleep in the room, curled up on his mattress with her uniform for a blanket. She covered her mouth with surprise, suppressing any noise that would have come out after she yelled at Zim last. However, her abrupt action didn't stop the egotistical Zim from continuing his rant towards her. This only seemed to make things worse and Brooke feared that Hyde would wake up. She really didn't want to bother him.

"And where's your uniform? Did you take it off? Put it back on! The meeting is in a half hour! We have to get going to the convention hall! Hurry up and get your uniform! Zim commands it of you!" Zim pointed to Brooke as he shouted his commands into her face.

Brooke waved her hands in front of him. "Shh, Zim. You have to be quiet. You'll wake u-"

"Do not tell your master to shush!"

"Zim, please, just be a little quieter-"

"I will not!" Zim advanced on Brooke. "E.B., I've been looking all over the vector for you! Have you got any idea how much space that is? No! Of course you don't! Because this is your first time on Irk and you know nothing about anything! So do not question Zim! Or I might lead you across another DNA pad like before." Gir was dancing at Zim's feet. Brooke hadn't noticed him before. "Gir! Be quiet! I'm yelling at E.B.!" Then he turned back to Brooke, a smile on his face as he had remembered something from Earth. "If you're not going to stay put then maybe I should tie a string around your waist so you don't wander off again!"

Brooke wanted to point out that she hadn't _meant_ to get away from him the last time. If anything it had been his fault for leading her across that first DNA pad in the first place. But she didn't say anything.

Zim thought a moment. "Actually… That sounds like a good idea. That way I can keep track of where you go without having to use this blasted tracking system!" Zim reached into his PAK and pulled out a cord that connected to the inside without letting go. He wrapped it around Brooke's waist, much to her distain, and was just tying it when---

"I don't think that you've any right to do that…"

Both Zim and Brooke looked up at the tall shadow standing beside them. Zim's antennas lowered as he stared up at the being.

Hyde turned to Brooke. He looked at the cord and then allowed one spider leg to come from within his PAK and reach over towards it. Then, with a single motion, the leg sliced through the cord and retracted back as the cord coiled into Zim's PAK once more. Afterwards, Hyde looked down at Brooke and then to Zim, a kind face turning to a frown. "Brooke? You all right?"

She didn't say anything. She never got the chance to.

"Of course she's all right!" Zim yelled up at the towering Irken being. "I would know if she wasn't all right! Do not speak to Zim's Hirken so friendly! Now… Shoo," Zim motioned for Hyde to leave with his hand, letting it flop and then pushing it out a few times to accent his point. "Zim has no need for you." One of his antennas rose. "And turn off that buzzing sound. It is displeasing."

Hyde frowned. "What makes you think you have any authority over me?" He knelt down so that he and Zim were face to face. "I'm taller than you. I have the most authority in this room over anyone else."

Zim had nothing left to say after that remark. In truth, Hyde was correct.

Brooke stepped between them. "N-now, now guys. No need to get all into who has greater authority. Let's just… let's just go, Zim." Brooke pulled on the small Irken's hand. She tugged him towards the flue and then pulled him inside, lightly waving to Hyde as she closed the doors and pressed the button for the lower levels. Gir jumped in just in time to ride down with them.

After leaving the building, Zim led Brooke around a corner, Gir followed, where they ended up meeting with the same Irken from before. He was seated on the ground, leaning against the wall. As Zim and Brooke rounded the corner to greet him, the red-eyed Irken got up off on the ground and stood on his feet, his SIR unit standing next to him, glowing bright red.

"Zim, you found it?"

"Course I found it! It's right here!" Zim motioned towards Brooke.

Brooke was flabbergasted. "IT!?" She smacked Zim again. "Do I look like an 'it' to you? I'm a girl!"

"Oh… little touchy… isn't it?"

"Stop calling me it! I'm a 'she'!"

Zim looked back at Brooke. He noticed something. "Hey…" Brooke looked at him. "Didn't you grab your invader uniform before you left?"

Brooke's mind snapped to attention. She looked down at herself, realizing that eh was, indeed, correct (much like Hyde had been). She jumped in surprise. "ACK! You're right! I forgot to get it back from Hyde…" Brooke's shoulders slumped down. She had really liked her uniform. It wasn't a dress… but it wasn't a shirt… It was something in between and she sort of really liked it. Then she sighed out loud. Turning to Zim she asked, "Is there any way for me to get another one?" When Zim shook his head while shrugging his shoulders, Brooke's knees buckled and she landed on her rump, both annoyed and disgruntled.

"Wait a second," said Zim. "What was this, uh… 'Hyde' doing with your uniform in the first place?"

"Brooke!"

Zim, Brooke, and Grin all looked down the ally from where Zim and Brooke had come. There was figure, a very tall figure, hurrying through the ally towards them. It was Hyde. In his left hand he held a limp object; a piece of fabric. Brooke's missing uniform.

Grin pointed down the ally. "Who's that?"

"Hyde," replied Brooke. She turned to the new Irken. "Actually… who are you?"

"Grin," he said.

Hyde made it to them and passed Brooke her uniform. "You forgot this."

"… Thanks." Brooke took the uniform and started to slip it over her head, though Gir kept tugging on it and saying that he wanted to wear it instead. When she finally pulled it over her head she ran her fingers down it a few times to get rid of the wrinkles. Then she turned back to Hyde and said another thank you. He just smirked, still with those oddly bored eyes.

Zim grabbed Brooke's hand. "Okay, okay. That's enough talking for one day. OFF TO THE INVADER MEETING!" But as Zim pulled Brooke away, marching down the dark ally towards where he thought the meeting place was, he was, yet again, stopped by a bored yet kindly voice from behind.

"Uh… the invader meeting is the other way."

Zim whirled around. "And how would you know this?"

"I'm going too." Hyde pointed behind him with one finger, which was like an Irken thumb. "I could show you the way if you want…"

"NEV-!"

Brooke clasped her hand over Zim's mouth to stop him from saying '_never in a million years, you irk-forsaken, 6 legged, two faced, not-in-the-least-bit-taller-than-anyone-else-here-and-definitely-not-superior-in-the-least-at-all, creepy, blank-faced, green-eyed, freak of the planet's very surface (and probably horrible beast from within the core that has mutated beyond comparison, making it uglier than anything imaginable) because that's what you are and… yeah… uh… and you smell of dookie! Dumb… dumb… dookie-smeller-ofer-who-smells-heavily-of-dookie-with-extra-sents-of-moose-which-fails-Zim-every-single-time-because-a-moose-is-a-stupid-earth-and-space-animal… Zim will not ask for help from a lowly smeller-ofer-of-dookie!_' Then she just rolled her eyes and turned to Hyde herself, forcing a smile after Zim's little almost-rant about dookie. "That's uh… very nice of you Hyde. To offer I mean. We'd greatly appreciate it if you would escort us to the invader meeting… if you please…"

Hyde turned. "All right. This way then."

They followed, Brooke keeping an eye on Zim in case he decided to rant again. Zim keeping an eye on Brooke in case she were to vanish again, like before. They couldn't afford to be any later than they already were.

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Kim: WOO! I had so much fun with this chapter! I hope that everyone enjoyed the ranting and the dookie and the Hyde and… yeah!

Brooke: … Just… leave… now…

Kim: … Okay.


End file.
